Current commercial printing technology generally employs planographic (e.g., offset, lithography, collatype, screenless), relief (e.g., letterpress and flexography), intaglio (e.g., gravure and steel die engraving), porous (e.g., screen printing and stencil), reprography (e.g., copying and duplicity) and digital (e.g., ink jets and toner) methods of print.
Commercial printing can include fixed data printing followed by variable data printing (VDP) employing an ink jet system. The fixed data printing can be performed using current commercial printing technology, such as high quality high speed four color printing press-based processes like web-offset. Today, variable data printing is often performed in the post-press process (e.g., after the fixed data is applied to a substrate) or as part of tasks related to personalization, mailing or delivery. The variable data printing can be used to print codes, messages, images and other data unique to an item or group of items printed. For example, the variable data may comprise codes that can include batch or serial numbers, addresses for recipients of the items, names, personalized messages, advertising, consumer specific coupons, etc. Traditionally, ink jet systems are most commonly used to print the variable data. The ink jet systems used for variable data printing are often slower than the higher-speeds of the fixed data printing systems, which thus requires the printed materials to be transferred “off-line” to a different variable printing line or the use of high cost equipment such as accumulators or buffers to process the materials “in-line.” Further, the manufacturer must continue to buy the ink long after purchasing the ink jet, resulting in an ongoing manufacturing expense. Yet further, the ink jet heads often become clogged and damaged, requiring labor and replacement costs. Additionally, the toxicity of some ink adds additional manufacturing complexity. Additionally, the ink jet systems have other drawbacks that may hinder performance of the overall printing process, as discussed above.
Alternatively, a printing line can utilize an entirely plateless printing process and perform fixed and variable data printing in a single line. Such systems rely on ink jets, electrophotography, ion or electron charge deposition, etc. As discussed above, such systems have drawbacks.